PASADENA — Two decades ago, a trio of Pasadena gang members stunned the City of Roses by gunning down six boys trick-or-treating, killing three and injuring three others on a night now known as the Halloween Massacre.
Now, after a 20-year police crackdown against gangs in one of Southern California’s most regal cities, the tide has turned, with crime at modern historic lows.
But instead of celebrating a hard-won victory, Pasadena police are themselves accused of kidnapping, beating and threatening to kill witnesses, withholding evidence in trials, attempting to bribe attorneys, wrongly shooting unarmed residents and a litany of civil rights abuses in their war against gangs and thugs.
“It’s gotten out of hand,” said Joe Brown, former head of the city’s NAACP branch, who has been tracking cases within the black community. “The problem is a lack of appropriate training and community policing.
via City of Thorns: Despite reforms, Pasadena police still face controversy – DailyBulletin.com.
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